PREACHING TO THE CHOIR

‘Glory’ pushes agenda in film about a forgotten civil war

“For Greater Glory”

Rating: R

When: Opens today

Where: Wide release

Running time: 2 hours, 18 minutes

★½

“For Greater Glory” is a meandering, malnourished epic of a forgotten Mexican civil war, the one “after” the Mexican Revolution. This period piece, partly financed by the Catholic Knights of Columbus, is about the Cristeros War, when Catholic priests and peasants took up arms against Mexico’s revolutionary government’s efforts to repress the Catholic Church.

In 1920s Mexico, the leftist administration of President Plutarco Calles (Ruben Blades) goes after the influence of the Catholic Church. Calles introduces “reforms” and edicts ranging from the practical — taking church dogma out of the schools, especially science class — to the more alarming — mass deportations of foreign priests and violence against priests who refuse to leave.

A coalition of church officials and reactionaries call themselves “Cristeros,” and the revolt rages off and on for years. Priests like Father “General” Vega (Santiago Cabrera) take up arms when priests such as Father Christopher (Peter O’Toole) are executed.

But as the revolt roils the country, the Cristeros see they need a leader. They turn to a frankly agnostic hero of the Mexican Revolution, General Velarde (Andy Garcia). He and his wife (Eva Longoria) realize that he can make a difference for the Cristeros.

Visual effects specialist turned director Dean Wright manages the combat scenes well enough. But he has no sense of pace, and has a hard time keeping the various factions distinct. And if he can’t keep them straight, what hope do we have?

If you’re tackling a subject this complex, you need to be more careful. You need to aim higher in hiring behind-the-camera talent. If you’re making a movie aimed at people of faith, you might want to cut it below an R rating. And if you’re going to attempt an epic, you need to spend more money than this.